Keep the smoker you purchased. Inexpensive ones can be frustrating but poultry, pork butts/shoulders, pork spare ribs, and chuck roasts are VERY forgiving of newbies. Plus those starter smokers sure teach you a lot about smoking meat, lessons he can use when he upgrades. Trust me, he will.

Charcoal. Definitely need that. Kingsford Blue Bag (The Original it says on the bag). Easily found at Home Depot and Lowes year round if you have one near you. 40 lbs for $20 this time of year. Half that price in the Spring.

Wood chunks. Also available at Home Depot and Lowes. They come in 5 lbs ($9) and 18 lb bags ($20). Get a stronger wood like Hickory to start.

He'll need a thermometer. That's how you tell when something is done and safe to eat. There are lots of options from cheap to expensive but I still pull a little quick read digital food probe thermometer out of the drawer from time to time. I think I paid $8 for it and the batteries last forever The wireless ones are very nice and typically in the $35-70 range. Another upgrade he can get himself or something you can get him for his birthday.

Charcoal Chimney Yep. Two sizes. Get the bigger one.

Everything else is nice to have but not absolutely necessary for starting out.

Oh, and be sure to introduce him to the group here. He'll learn tons. Heck, do it together!

You're a great girlfriend for finding something he will love and so will you.

Great advice given. If the Brinkman is all you can afford put a big bow on it and point him to here. If he really wants to smoke he will make it work. He'll enjoy it even more knowing you went out and got him what he needs. Then he can step up down the road to something like the WSM. Lots of good BBQ has been made on the smoker you purchased. In the right kind of weather it can be set and almost forget, at least enough to play corn hole.

I bit the bullet and bought the 18" Weber smoker. I better be getting a diamond soon. LOL Amazon will take the ECB back and cover the shipping fees to return it. He won't be getting all the accessories due to the upgrade but luckily his birthday is in February. I'm going to direct him here when he opens his gift. You've all been so helpful and this chick appreciates your knowledge.

I bit the bullet and bought the 18" Weber smoker. I better be getting a diamond soon. LOL Amazon will take the ECB back and cover the shipping fees to return it. He won't be getting all the accessories due to the upgrade but luckily his birthday is in February. I'm going to direct him here when he opens his gift. You've all been so helpful and this chick appreciates your knowledge.

You will not regret this ever. He is one lucky fella! So, he has to wait until february? Man oh man.

I bit the bullet and bought the 18" Weber smoker. I better be getting a diamond soon. LOL Amazon will take the ECB back and cover the shipping fees to return it. He won't be getting all the accessories due to the upgrade but luckily his birthday is in February. I'm going to direct him here when he opens his gift. You've all been so helpful and this chick appreciates your knowledge.

You did good Kelly, The 14 incher would not have gotten you a diamond, size does matter. I looked at one of those at wally's, it was a sad little smoker. Quality , maybe, but tiny. I got the 18 and it is a man sized smoker. Now he can go get his accessories on his own and enjoy that. A lot of Pittmasters use Kingsford Blue, Chunks are better than chips. Chips are a waste of time, unless you stand there and put them in every five minutes. Chunks burn for a long time, hours. He will need that temp gauge. I got the Maverick 733 on amazon for 70 bucks. Makes it real easy. Charcoal Chimney by Weber, at home depot for 15 bucks, Tell him to go to Harry Soo's web site, SlapYoDaddy barbeque team, Harry has won championships with his Weber 18. It will inspire him. In fact there are several barbecue champion teams out there that use the Weber 18. And like the guys said, tell him about this site and another site, The Virtual Weber Bullet. This is the site though. He's gonna have a great Christmas! Hope yours is great as well.